-Ashley should win, but I'm more interested in getting a sense of how she wins. Is she peaking and looking like she's chomping at the bit to mix it up with the world's best? Can she send a sharp-edged "message" skate to the other top-skaters and the judges that she is not to be ignored?

-Can Gracie demonstrate one of the marks of a champion, that she's got the sand to lay down a thumping free skate after a somewhat disappointing SP, all under some real pressure? (this aint Juniors anymore, and based on the interviews, it seems that the realization that she's now playing for keeps has finally sunk in)

-I'd love to see Mirai show that she's not going to let her career slowly dribble away, but is ready and willing to take back her place in the skating firmament. She's got to do it now. She's not the spring chicken on the block anymore.